A push-type switch may be used as a component that is made up of an electrical circuit. The push-type switch must provide a user with a sense of operating the device (a click sensation). The advantage is that provide a user with a sense of operating the device allows the user to reliably recognize having pressed a switch. For instance, a tactile switch is one such type of switch.
The push-type switch is typically placed on a printed substrate that holds an electrical circuit; the push-type switch is for accepting an operation from a person and entering a signal into the electrical circuit. FIG. 13 is a top view for describing the typical package structure of a push-type switch; and FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the cross-section XIV-XIV in the package structure depicted in FIG. 13.
Referring to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the push-type switch 100 may be connected to another electronic component by soldering a connection 210 onto the printed circuit board 200 on which the relevant electronic component is mounted (not shown). The connection 210 connects terminals 110, 111 and the conductive circuitry 201 on the printed circuit board.
The electronic device that uses the push-type switch 100 is further processed by assembling the printed circuit board 200 and a resin structure 320 provided with a hole 321 that can accommodate the push-type switch 100 internally; and a sheet 310 is bonded over the upper surface of the resin structure 320 to cover the hole 321.
Incidentally, an electronic device thus configured is larger because the storage space (i.e., the hole 321) into which the push-type switch 100 is mounted must be wider; the manufacturing cost increases because the manufacturing process is more complicated since the sheet material 310 must be bonded to cover the storage space; or the electronic device loses its design flexibility. Finally, despite recent demand for thinner and more compact portable devices, the ability to provide these features has limitations since the printed substrate is used when assembling the push-type button switch with other electronic components
For instance, Japanese Patent Publication 2003-165357 (FIG. 3B) proposes embedding the mechanical operational structure of the push-type switch into a resin structure as a means of either omitting the switch storage space, or the sheet material on the outer surface.